Republicans Attempt Loyal Opposition in Congress

Posted by Scott Williams on 01.25.2009

And Get Squashed in the Process...

In 2007, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Case. Without going into the facts of the case, the gist of the ruling found that, pursuant to the Supreme Court's interpretation of existing statutes, employers were protected from lawsuits based on race or gender pay discrimination if the basis of those same lawsuits occurred 180 days or more in the past. In other words, from the point the alleged discrimination started, to the point a lawsuit is filed, that time period could be no longer than 180 days. The problem with this limitation is, with pay data being as confidential as it is in almost all cases, pay discrimination based on race or gender could take some time to come to light. Years potentially.

The bills that just passed the House (HR 11) and the Senate (S181) changes all that. Dubbed the "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act 2009", the 180 day window is effectively flipped on its head. No longer will it be 180 days since the discrimination began as the time frame allowed to bring suit; but 180 days since the latest infraction (which, for many, could have been as early as the last time they received a pay check). In fact, this legislation was deemed so important to the Obama Administration, the plaintiff in the ruling, Lilly Ledbetter, was among only 41 guests invited to ride along with Obama and family on their "Inauguration Train Ride". And it's reported Obama told Lilly on that train ride, that he hoped to have her over to the White House "real soon" to witness the signing of the new law. Looks like that's indeed going to happen; sooner rather than later.

The Republicans in Congress were against the legislation, of course. And tried everything they could to water it down or stop it. In the House, they were crushed in a 247-171 vote (no surprise there). Plus, to add insult to injury, the House also passed HR 12, the "Paycheck Fairness Act", which would ensure fair and equal pay based on gender, ON THE SAME DAY that they passed HR 11. Again, the Republicans were spanked, 256-163.



It was roughly the same story in the Senate. The Republicans tried to attach every amendment under the sun to S181 that they could think of; from wording saying an employer had to "intend" to discriminate, to amendments limiting the scope of influence of unions of all things. There was actually a Republican amendment that tried to effective date the legislation to limit its immediate impact on employers. All tabled (killed) one by one. In the end, the Senate passed S181 in a 61-36-1 vote. And they didn't even need Al Franken or Ted Kennedy's votes to do it because the Democrats got 5 moderate Republicans to join in; eliminating any potential filibuster threat.



In summary, what this teaches us is, while a lot has been made as of late of "bi-partisan" support, the Democrats in the House can do anything they want. Period. The Republicans are irrelevant. And in the Senate, while it may be a little harder, the Democrats have a solid, "filibuster resistant" majority. My advice to the Republicans? Get better at gaining support for your initiatives as the "Loyal Opposition" starting at the center, and moving right. Or face the prospects of being able to muster "NO" opposition.

Cheers!